, 1887-07-13
HOLIDAYS HISTORY.
How the Stage Coach Magnate
Became Wealthy.
Leaves Missouri and Moves
West in 1852.
Securing a 100000 Bargain
for About $4,000.

The career of Ben Holiday, who died
at Portland, Oge., a few days ago, was
that of a remarkable man. He was a ma
tive of Kentucky, and was probably 60
years of age. He moved from his native
state when Is years of age, and located in
Missouri. In 1S49 or so he settled at
Weston, and for several years was engaged
in the drug business. He finally aband-
oned that prosy pursuit for a more excit-
ing life still further on the frontier, and In
1852 made his first overland trip to Salt
Lake City in charge of a train of goods.
He found no market in Salt Lake, and
moved on with the train to California,
where the value of his goods grew as if by
magic. His venture was far more profit
able than he had anticipated, even in his
widest dreams, and the result was the
foundation of a fortune. Becoming in
terested in San Francisco property, he
soon grew wealthy and influential, and
finally secured a contract to supply the
Pacific Mail company with fresh beef.
This brought him an income of from
81, 900 to $4,000 per month, and was fol-
lowed by other contracts even more profit
able, in which the governments and various
overland companies contributed to his in
c~reasing fortune.
He eventually became interested with
w. H. Russell, a well known Missourian,
in several government contracts and
cleared fabulous sum of money. But
Holiday, who was on the western end of
the continent and manipulated the vari-
u deals, managed to capture the most of
the profits, while Russell and his co-part-
ners in Missouri and the East furnished
the principal portion of the capital. The
firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell, of St.
Louis, finally failed at the opening Of the.
war. and Holiday generously kept every
thing which the firm owned west of the
Missouri.
A reorganization was finally effected
and the firm of Russell, Jones g. Cart
wright and Alexander Mayors became sole
owners of the Pixies Peak Express COM
pany from Atchison and Leavenworth to
Denver. The government being behind
in pay to the company, Russell, a Demo
crat, deemed it prudent to make Holiday
president OF the Overland company,
Holiday accepted, and advanced $50, 900
or 100000 to fit up the line, and took a
chattel mortgage on the whole concern.
This was made payable at some obscure
town in Kansas, and Holiday soon cap
tured the line which had previously been
invCiced at about 100000. He after
ward sold it to the Wells Fargo Express
company for $1,000, 900 cash.
Holiday first wife and four children
by her are all dead. The wife was an es-
timable woman, charming in appearance,
and character. Their two daughters,
Polite and Jennie, each married a French
Jul with more title than anything else.
Both were beautiful women, but both had
been sought and welded for their wealth
and their married lives proved unhappy.
Jennie, the eldest. died on a Pullman car
on her way east from California. The
doctors said it was heart disease. The
other died at a New York hotel. The
two boys, Joseph and Benjamin, who
were well known in St. Louis among the
young bloods of their day, died while
they were yet young men. All the chill
dren were buried on the Ophir farm, in
Westminster county, N. Y, beside their
mother, in a private chapel which she
had built. Ophir farm embraces about
1000 acres which Is finely improved after
the French chateau style, and in her will
the mother lett it to her daughters with
the stipulation that at their death it
should not go to their French husbands.
This provision was the cause of long liti-
cation, the Frenchmen making strenuous
efforts to secure its possession. 1t finally
passed into the possession of John
Roach, the ship builder.